BBC Persian reports that Saeed Mortazavi has personally and directly ordered the major ISPs (or ICPs as they call them in Iran) to filter Orkut and blogging service websites.
Meanwhile, the Iranian Telecom has announced in the official website that they have not ordered the filtering of Orkut and the Minister himself has said that judiciary is responsible for that.
This is a little bit unusual because so far it's been the three member committee that's been responsible for deciding about internet filtering. But now it seems that Saeed Mortazavi, Tehran's chief prosecutor, is willing to directly control and influence the major ISPs.
Mortazavi has been directly involved in the recent arrests of technicians and journalists related to a few reformist websites and is said to be responsible for torturing them.
He is also the judge who has shut down almost all reformist newspapers and magazines during the past six year and who is said to be responsible for the death of Zahra Kazemi, the Iranian-Canaidian photographer two years ago.
Sources: BBC Persian
Posted at January 10, 2005 08:33 AM